Missouri Coalition for the Environment

Blue Heron Orchard, a five acre orchard located near Hannibal, MO, has been certified organic since 1990, and is also the only organic orchard in the state of Missouri! Dan Kelly, who runs the farm, walked us through the rows of apple trees, which were sporting unripe apples about the size of golf balls. Since Dan doesn’t spray any synthetic pesticides he instead uses a tactic called “integrated pest management.” This includes using pheromone boxes and a prairie he planted around the orchard and burns or mows to control pests like codling moths. Left alone, a codling moth caterpillar will bore into an apple and stop its development — we got to see one in action when Dan spotted a suspicious apple and split it open for us. When the apples are harvested, Dan uses them to make everything from applesauce to apple leather (think, healthy fruit roll-ups) to apple cider to apple cider vinegar, the first two of which I’ve tried and can confirm are tasty! Blue Heron sells their products on the farm, at farmers markets (Schlafly and Tower Grove), and as part of Fair Shares CCSA among other places — check out their website to learn more!

Althoff Farms, a 14acre farm, was started in 2012 and is run by Heather and Dan Althoff near LaPrairie, IL. On a nice evening in mid-June we dropped by to talk to Heather about what she does and see several of her cows, which were lounging in the grass (along with some very cute kittens!). Heather and Dan raise a number of different varieties of beef and specialize in grass fed and grass finished beef. Another product that sets Althoff Farms apart is their non-GMO grain fed beef — it can be very difficult to find non-GMO feed but luckily they’re able to get it from a local farmer that mills their own. Heather and Dan sell their meat as part of CSA and Cow Share programs and also make specialty products like soap and sausage gift boxes, which they offer seasonally. Additionally, they sell at Grown N Gathered and Macomb Food Coop. If you want to learn more you can check out their website here!

HartBeet is a 70 acre farm in Eolia, MO run by Nicki Morgan and her family — four of these acres are in production and the rest of the land is used for foraging for fruits and mushrooms. Last week several of us at MCE drove up to meet Nicki, who was able to give us a great tour of the farm. Walking through their main field we saw a good chunk of what they produce — Hart Beet grows vegetables and fruits, and they also tap for maple sap which they turn into maple syrup. The sap comes from a total of over 100 maple trees on their property, but Nicki and her family rotate which trees they tap each year. This only happens in a specific tapping season, which can change in length depending on the weather (temperatures above freezing during the day and below freezing at night are best) and location — for example, Missouri’s season is shorter than the season in Canada, where most of our syrup comes from. HartBeet doesn’t use chemical pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers, so as we asked Nicki what they did instead to control insects in the field. She told us about buying bugs to place among the crops — good ones that get rid of the damaging insects in one way or another. We heard specifically about parasitic wasps, which lay their eggs in caterpillars that could otherwise ruin a plant. The caterpillar dies when the eggs hatch, so releasing the wasps among your crops controls the caterpillar population and works as an alternative to using conventional pesticides. Most of what HartBeet produces goes to their CSA, but if you’re looking to try out their produce or syrup you can also find them at Lake St. Louis Farmers and Artists Market.

While this region of west-central Illinois is mostly flat, Josh and Alicia, the GFH farmers, have a beautiful slice of land that rolls down from side to side into creeks that the pigs are able to rummage through. This was one of the first beautiful, sunny, warm days of spring – a perfect day to be on the farm.

As we arrived, Josh and Alicia offered a warm welcome and promptly led us to where the baby goats spend their days napping in the sunshine. Before we knew it, baby goats bundled in farm blankets were offered to each of us as companions for our farm tour. My heart was fluttering with excitement. With goats in tow, we proceeded to the chickens just across the way. The beautiful speckled chickens were set up in a paddock with mobile trailers dispensing high-quality feed and providing a cozy, shaded space for roosting and egg laying. I handed off my bundled up baby goat so I could free my hands to learn best practices for picking up a chicken: place each of your hands around the outside of each of their wings and swiftly hoist them up, positioning them to perch on your hand, wrapping their squishy feet around your fingers. With your now one free hand, gently and firmly apply pressure against their chest, providing them a sense of security and ease. These chickens had plenty of space to spread out and lots of bugs to eat. Did you know that eggs labeled “vegetarian fed” mean the chickens that laid the eggs did not have access to roam pasture and eat bugs, the main source of a healthy chicken diet?

We made our way towards the pig pasture, the baby goats still among us, as we came up to a small group of pigs: large pigs, medium-sized pigs, pigs having just rolled in mud, pigs oinking away. Farmer Josh tells us about his passion for these Mulefoot hogs and explains that their farming practices allow the pigs to roam, take in the sunshine, root around in the dirt, forage in the woods, and rotate from pasture to pasture, not returning to a previous pasture until the ground has recovered with fresh greenery.… Read the rest

Terripin Farms, which is located near Quincy, IL, is on two plots of land — one, about five acres, leased from Four Winds Farm, and a second, owned by Terripin, of about 10 acres. On this land Terripin grows a large variety of vegetables. The MCE staff that went to visit met with Jess Whiston, who runs the farm with her husband Brad. Jess handles most of the farm’s marketing, and told us about the community’s high demand for local food as we stood by the field. Terripin doesn’t use synthetic pesticides or GMOs and spends plenty of time weeding to keep their crops healthy. Right next to the field is a small roadside stand that had a constant stream of customers the entire time we were there — here Jess was selling squash, zucchini, tomatoes, green beans and more. Aside from their stand, Terripin has runs a CSA with more than 100 members and provides produce for local restaurants. To find out more about buying a CSA share, you can look at the Terripin website here.

North Newstead Association has supported community gardens throughout our continually expanding service area. Access to fresh and local produce as well as the skills necessary to cultivate those healthy foods is integral to NNA’s mission of promoting community development in north St. Louis City. Recently, we have expanded our footprint in St. Louis’ food system through an Elderly Services garden workshop providing an educational workshop series on healthy eating, healthy living, and gardening. The Elderly Services program also provides access to free garden beds at the Fresh Starts Community Garden and fresh free produce delivery to seniors who are unable to attend the garden workshops.

What part of the food system do you work on?

NNA works to increase access to healthy produce in areas that have limited access to fresh affordable produce.

What is the mission of North Newstead?

Our mission is to cultivate a more equitable City of St. Louis by providing and preserving affordable housing while delivering other direct services to our residents and community members. Through a continued commitment to community-informed approaches, we strive to build capacity and partnership throughout our neighborhoods highlighting resiliency, commonalities, and strengths.

What do you wish people knew about the food system in St. Louis?

NNA wishes that more people understood how multi-dimensional and interconnected the food system in St. Louis is. While increasing access to fresh produce and healthy food is important, establishing healthy eating rhythms and patterns of behavior that are contextually-informed are equally as important. Additionally, community gardens require maintenance and on-going support which is often the less glamorous side of community garden work.

How do you envision the future of the food system in St. Louis?

An interconnected web of supported community gardens that provide healthy and community-chosen foods to the local neighborhood, nearby markets, grocery stores (if any are nearby), and possibly convenience stores. There seems to be a trend toward buying, growing, and access foods produced locally and I think that this can be achieved at a high level in St. Louis.

In high school I planned on being a physical therapist. I went to SLU, graduated with a B.S. in Exercise Science. I worked as a physical therapy aide, as I intended on applying for Physical Therapy graduate programs. However, my exposure to the healthcare system those few years showed me that the real way to help people is not when they are in need of medical care; it’s in equipping individuals with the tools that can aid in the prevention of the long list of chronic disease and illness that can be avoided with engaging in healthy behaviors. I went back to graduate school, obtained my Masters in Public Health from the Brown School, and set out to improve health disparities related to obesity in the Black community. My studies there provided me with the language and ability to locate the evidence showing that the problem goes beyond knowing how to prepare healthy meals.

The real conundrum in Black communities is finding where you can purchase healthy foods. That’s when I realized that my knowledge within the physical activity realm is serving me well in this capacity. However, being involved in the food system is a necessity in order to alleviate the health disparities that prevail in the St. Louis region.

What part of the food system do you work on?

The program I spearhead, WEDO, is an acronym for Women Empowered to End Disparities in Obesity. It was formed through a collaboration between Missouri Foundation for Health’s Healthy Schools Healthy Communities Initiative and the Gateway Region YMCA. In my current role as WEDO Wellness Coordinator, I work with North County mothers and female caregivers to support them in creating healthier homes and communities for themselves and their families. I assist with the development, implementation, and evaluation of programming that focuses on increasing healthy eating behaviors.

In addition to nutrition education, WEDO also increases awareness among mothers about the places where they can purchase healthy foods affordably in their communities. The Double Up Food Bucks program, St. Louis MetroMarket North County stops, and the United People Market have all been promoted among WEDO program participants. In addition, WEDO is working with organizations, like the St. Louis Food Policy Coalition, to assist with the improvement of healthy food accessibility throughout the St. Louis region.

What is the mission of Gateway YMCA?

The mission of the Gateway Region YMCA is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.… Read the rest

I live in a region with more fast food and frozen food restaurants and stores and, this ‘food swamp,’ as I call it, contributes to unhealthy lifestyles and low economic interest in the community.

What part of the food system do you work on?

I work on serving and promoting local food and increasing healthy food access.

What is the mission of A Red Circle?

The holistic betterment of our community; reversing the effects of racism one person and cause at a time.

What do you wish people knew about the food system in St. Louis?

The term food desert, although coined by the USDA, is a misnomer because there is food available. It’s just not as healthy as it is in other regions. Poorer communities lack fresh produce options because the offerings at the stores are lower in quality.

How do you envision the future of the food system in St. Louis?

Fresh, local, and affordably priced. Nicer restaurants in North County and fewer fast food. More fresh produce in convenience stores and less frozen, processed food.

Doe Run has submitted its application to permanently divert the West Fork of the Black River in Reynolds County, Missouri. Submit public comments by COB on Thursday, April 15 to Army Corps of Engineers contact in charge of the application, Cynthia Blansett, at Cynthia.W.Blansett@usace.army.mil.

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Several sinkholes have appeared near the West Fork of the Black River in Reynolds County in southeastern Missouri beginning in spring of 2014 with consequences for the river and the surrounding land. As reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,the sinkholes developed above an underground lead mine operated by the Doe Run Company. The first two of six known sinkholes, discovered near the toe of the mine’s main tailings dam, were between 30 and 60 feet in diameter and about 18 feet deep.

According to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration report, these sinkhole developed shortly after Doe Run removed some of the pillars supporting the mine roof in the vicinity of an unused ventilation shaft, causing the roof to collapse and the ground above the mine to subside. The roof collapse and associated subsidence also led to the inflow of thousands of gallons of water per minute from the West Fork Black River into the mine and to an increase in the discharge of contaminants into the river as the company pumped the water out of the mine.

In an effort to stop the mine flooding, prevent additional contamination of the river, and halt further sinkhole development, in June 2014, Doe Run applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for an emergency permit – issued without notice to the public – which allowed Doe Run to divert the flow of the West Fork Black River into an artificially constructed channel temporarily. The artificial channel is lined with rock and black geotextile material and is nearly 1,300 feet long. The state certified that the project would not adversely impact water quality on June 25, 2014.

It now appears that Doe Run plans to make the river diversion permanent. An August 26, 2015 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article noted that Doe Run and the Corps were “in talks” to see about making the diversion permanent but that “nothing official” had been filed. MCE has since obtained documents through the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) including an application, dated September 3, 2015, requesting the “permanent use of the West Fork Diversion.” The Corps’ file also includes a letter, dated August 10, 2015, by Golder (Doe Run’s consultant) explaining Doe Run’s rationale for wanting to make the diversion permanent.… Read the rest

Controlling flood risk requires common sense placement and maintenance of agricultural levees and limits on development in the natural floodplain. The recent decision in federal claims court in Ideker Farms et. al v. United States came as a blow to restoration advocates who disagree with the plaintiffs’ claim that the Corps’ restoration efforts on the Missouri River caused them to experience flood damages. The judge ruled that damages occurred across four states – Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, but a second trial will begin in October to determine the dollar amount of those impacts. The lawsuit was filed in 2014 and alleged that the restoration efforts as part of the Missouri River Recovery Program were responsible for private flooding and ultimately, a “takings” of private property.

In fact, it was the failure to complete the 1944 Pick Sloan plan which is responsible for much of today’s lower river woes. The Pick Sloan plan is best known for the huge upper Missouri River reservoirs built under its guidance. However, the plan had a critical lower river component calling for levee setbacks which was never fully completed. If the plan had been followed, the river would have had room to expand during natural flood pulses and flooding along the river would be substantially reduced. Instead, the Missouri River floods even worse than before the river was altered and we’ve lost the ecosystem services that a natural river system provides us, such as flood storage, water filtration, wildlife habitat, and recreation.

The Corps, through the Bank Stabilization and Navigation Program, heavily altered the Missouri River to facilitate farming in the floodplains’ legacy rich soils and to create a barge channel which, while built, has never carried much traffic. These changes destroyed much of the natural habitat for endangered species including the Pallid Sturgeon, Least Tern, and Piping Plover as well as for other aquatic and floodplain ecosystem critters. The alterations disconnected the river from its floodplain ultimately giving these landowners adjacent to the river free land, that land used to be floodplain and even the river itself in some cases. Now, the landowners want to maintain their access to it on the taxpayers’ dime even as it costs the public financially and in the loss of environmental benefits a functioning, healthy river system provides.… Read the rest

This is Brad Walker’s final blog piece reflecting on his career path that has spanned several countries, multiple non-profits, and a range of issues that have brought him to where he is today. We are grateful of the work he has done on behalf of MCE and wish him the best of luck!

For anyone who finds themselves drawn serendipitously or intentionally to environmental work, it is no secret that it can be discouraging.

In our political climate, which has grown increasingly hostile and corporatized, environmental activism often is reactive. We are immobilized to make change and proactively protect our planet because special interests have captured the very mechanisms of our democracy.

As the saying goes, we occasionally win the environmental battles but we are losing the war.

We cannot address environmental problems unless we have the foresight to address larger (and arguably more insidious) root causes – the relentless pursuit of profit over community health, the myth of unlimited growth, the corporatization of our public resources like clean water and air, and the buying and selling of our democracy.

The past few years have been difficult – we have seen unprecedented rollbacks in environmental protections, the widening of the wealth gap, and the spending of untold sums on political campaigns. But when I look to the future of our movement, Isee hope if all environmentalists would also become fervent defenders of democracy.

My second career path

I have had a very interesting and satisfying second career working on the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) and more recently the the Missouri River, which has spanned over 11 years and three organizations. In retrospect it may have been pre-destined to happen.… Read the rest

The Annual Democracy Convention, hosted by Move to Amend and some other thirty convening/sponsoring organizations, represents a dedicated group of stakeholders who acknowledge that a main catalyst for social change in our country is the need to restore our democratic process.

In recent years, social and economic unrest has brought to the forefront of our collective lexicon phrases like, “We are the 99%” and “Get big money out of politics.” Terms like Super PACs and “dark money” appeared frequently in coverage of the last presidential election. It is no secret that our democracy has been co-opted by special interests and that all too often elected officials do not adequately stand up for the people they represent.

The organizations in attendance at the Democracy Convention covered a wide range of interests, tactics, and constituencies, and participants varied from veteran peace advocates to young family farmers, civil rights activists to intersectional feminists. What draws these groups together? How do all these issues (Economy, Media, Peace, Justice, Education, Environment) fit together to solve growing inequality in our country? This was the seminal question of the four-day convention. While there is no definitive answer, it is clear that the community of nonprofits working on the issue is growing to be ever more inclusive and that the movement is backed by a growing public awareness of and discontent with corporate control of our government.

In MCE’s presentation at the Convention, we connected democracy and ecology by citing corporate personhood as a direct threat to our abilities to live in a clean environment and advocate for ecosystem health. Our presentation was categorized as part of the Democratizing the Constitution Conference rather than the Earth Rights & Global Democracy Conference.

What happens all too often when environmental issues are folded into broader discussions or conferences, is that they become silo-ed or hyper-focused. The conversations develop around a single issue (i.e. fracking, tar sands, pesticides, water pollution, climate change) or become isolated to one community’s experience. While these conversations are valuable and a have a place in our revolution, they can lack context and ingenuity. It can become easy to ignore underlying issues of systematic oppression, like racism and classism, and the topic of the environmentalism can continue to carry the stigma that the movement is championed only by tree-huggers and hardcore preservationists. The work of protecting our environment often falls to short-term fixes of individual concerns like the direct improvement of specific habitats, enhancement of water quality in a certain areas, management of particular land uses, and regulation of pollution sources, and how to address these problems legislatively.… Read the rest

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a vital tool MCE uses to request documents from the federal government related to its activities and our environment. MCE has made several FOIA requests related to the radioactive West Lake Landfill Superfund site in St. Louis County over many years, specifically to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We are happy to announce the EPA has released over 17,000 pages of draft reports and correspondence with the financially responsible parties.

Sometimes our requests for documents are denied for various reasons allowed by law, including what is known as the deliberative process. Records can be denied to a person or organization making a FOIA request if the documents requested are drafts or are being used for a forthcoming decision. The EPA used the deliberative process in 2014 as justification for not releasing a National Remedy Review Board assessment of West Lake Landfill that MCE requested using FOIA. The agency ultimately released the document in 2016. That’s why we are pleased the EPA has released over 17,000 pages of draft reports and correspondence with the financially responsible parties. The draft reports include two versions of the Remedial Investigation and one version of the Feasibility Study. The correspondence gives us insight as to where the EPA and responsible parties agree and disagree.… Read the rest

Gray Area: Wolves of the Southwest is the story of how the Mexican gray wolf was from rescued from the brink of extinction. The story begins with the U.S. government’s federal campaign to eradicate predators, like the gray wolf, from public lands with ranching leases, but the drama of the story comes from the campaign to bring the gray wolf back from extinction, one waged by conservationists and biologists who in rescuing just seven wolves brought the species back. The gray wolf’s current wild population is about 100 animals. Gray Area screens Tuesday, April 3rd at Webster University as part of the St. Louis Earth Day Film Series.

Gray Area: Wolves of the Southwest

Directed by Dean Cannon

Runtime: 50 minutes

Gray Area: Wolves of the Southwest works on several levels. It spotlights the work of dedicated conservationists and biologists, and it features one of the most beloved and feared wild animals – wolves. It also highlights our human shortsightedness in seeking to eradicate a keystone predator from an ecosystem and what the repercussions for such actions are.

The film’s driving narrative is about the gray wolf’s recovery and the central challenge for the wolf population today: increasing genetic diversity. Inbreeding with such a small population can lead to vulnerabilities, like disease. The film features St. Louis’s own Endangered Wolf Center, which has played a central role in the gray wolf’s recovery and the establishment a genetically healthy population.

Gray Area: Wolves of the Southwest is a relatively short feature documentary, clocking in at less than hour. But the film offers a thorough and nuanced view of the gray wolf’s near demise and now hopefully triumphant recovery. One especially interesting component of the story that is woven throughout the film but could be explored further and could certainly be expanded beyond the 50 minute runtime is the tension surrounding public land.

In order to protect the gray wolf, conservationists, biologists, ranchers and local residents all have to work together. It becomes clear through the interviews featured in the film with all these players that this task may be the most challenging. At work are differing ideologies, differing views on what public land is and how it functions, what purposes it serves and how it should be regulated. There are even contentions around who owns public land. One rancher goes as far to say that the concept of public ownership of federal lands is “really just on paper.”

Mexican gray wolves were eradicated from parts of the southwest because they threatened livestock.… Read the rest

This Cold Life is a study of what it’s like to live in nearly complete isolation in the world’s northernmost town, Longyearbyen, Norway, only 300 miles from the North Pole. Longyearbyen is a former mining town now trying to rebrand itself as an ecotourist destination at a time when climate change threatens much of its wildlife and “natural” rugged beauty. The film profiles a handful of residents, sharing their stories through intimate interviews, stunning, languorous landscape shots and beautiful shallow depth of field portraits. This Cold Life screens Tuesday, April 10th at the Webster University Film Series as part of the St. Louis Earth Day Film Series.

This Cold Life

Directed by Darren Mann

Runtime: 84 minutes, 2017

A lot of the residents in Longyearbyen are transplants who were drawn to the allure of attempting to live a normal existence under such extreme conditions (half of the year the town lives in total darkness). Most of them wrestle with what will become of their home now that the mining industry has died and no clear transition to the clean energy sector has been set up.

In its first moments This Cold Life seems like it might fall into a genre akin to Werner Herzog’s Encounters at the End of the World or an extreme living series on the National Geographic Channel. But This Cold Life is actually an incredibly delicate and surprising balancing act of documentary genres. It’s part nature documentary, filled with wonder and awe about the Norwegian town’s unique and endangered wildlife. We get many tender moments and poignant anecdotes when the residents talk about their connection to the wildlife and the ecosystem in Longyearbyen.

“We are visitors in the polar bears’ landscape,” says Olaf, the town’s printer. “This is a landscape where you are directly connected to the earth. I’m living in my landscape.” Later in the film he recalls seeing the eye of a whale while out on the ocean. “It was beautiful…you are just a little, tiny thing in this big world and you shouldn’t be more.”

This Cold Life is partly a human interest story elevated by the craft quality of its cinematography – a technique that has become popular among documentary filmmakers experimenting with drone videography and iPhone cameras on body-mount tripods. It echoes films like Only the Young and For Those Who Feel the Fire Burning, popular indie documentaries that followed their subjects (suburban teenagers and European refugees, respectively) with an emotional intensity offset by fluid, tracking camera angles.… Read the rest

How did you get started in the food system? How did you get involved with HOSCO?

I come from a farming family and so I’ve always had a passion for agriculture and for being outdoors. When I got into college, that changed more into a interest for environmentalism and the food system was the perfect intersection of agriculture and the environment. My first formal job was at EarthDance where I served as an AmeriCorps Summer Associate as a Program Specialist so I had my hand in all the different programs that they had: youth education, community outreach, etc. That’s how I took root in the good food movement.

And oddly enough, that is where I met Gibron and got involved with HOSCO. He had a group of students out to the farm and while I was giving them a tour, we were able to connect on some important food-related issues. Gibron started HOSCO in 2010 and his primary focus was growing microgreens and producing pumpkin seed oil. Over that time he started realizing the need to create a strong, local food network. When we met, he had been incubating his ideas on creating a food hub and expanding his current farm into a non-profit with a focus on education and community development. Now I serve as the Director of Operations for HOSCO.

What is HOSCO’s mission?

We are currently working on revitalizing and finalizing our mission statement while we’re in our strategic planning, a very transitional phase. Right now it focuses on increasing the economic viability of the local food system, creating careers around food production, aggregation, and delivery and improving the quality of life of residents living in the community. Broadly, our goal is to sustainably facilitate community and economic development through the creation of a local food system via an extensive network of partners.

Can you tell us more about the different parts of HOSCO?

As for right now, there are three primary aspects to HOSCO. First is growing and producing food. Second would be our shared use kitchen/food hub space that is used for education & job training and creating local food products. The third is the community aspect of our organization that includes our grocery delivery program and employment opportunities.

What are the biggest barriers for people who want to farm or work in the food system?… Read the rest

We started Althoff Farms by selling quarters of beef in 2013. We decided to add selling by the individual piece of meat & bundles in 2014 when we started to sell through the Macomb Food Coop in Macomb, IL. We added a few stores and Quincy Farmer’s Market in 2015. We also do off the farm sales and deliveries. We offer grass-fed/grass finished beef, non-GMO, grain-fed beef, and non-confinement pork.

Dan grew up on a farm raising cows and pigs and Heather helped her parents raise a big garden in her youth. We both have been working part time on the farm since 2013. We both have full time jobs, but our farm is our passion.

Why is local food important?

Local foods are important because when you get your food from a local producer, you can pinpoint where your food came from and how it is raised. There is also the economic benefit to the community. We strive to buy local to help our local economy and keep local people working. You are also keeping the dream alive for a farmer when you buy locally.

How do you sell your products?

We sell off the farm, local deliveries, through the Macomb, IL Food Coop, Grown N Gathered in Quincy, Quincy Farmer’s Market and other vendor events. We offer various meat CSA’s that include our non-GMO grain-fed beef, or our grass-fed/grass-finished beef. We do still sell quarters/halves/wholes, cow shares, and bundles. We also offer summer sausage and cheese gift baskets from October-February. We chose these distribution methods because it is what is available to us. Living in a rural area is great but also limits to how we can distribute. We’d love to add other distribution methods in the future and are always on the look out for more opportunities for growth!

How do you see your role in the community?

Our role in the community is as a supplier of good, healthy meat but also as good citizens in our community. We hope we can educate people about local foods and put a face to where they get their food.

What is your favorite growing season/crop?

My favorite season is fall. Things start to slow down a little on the farm and the fall vegetables are more flavorful in my opinion. The cooler weather makes for happier animals. We also enjoy the cooler weather after a long summer!… Read the rest

I got started as an eater, just like everyone else; as a conscious, healthy eater that was concerned about the industrial ag system in our country. To make a long story short, I fell into this unknowingly. I moved to downtown St. Louis 7 years ago and had nowhere to grow my own food. I was at a point in my life where I just wanted that skill and control over what I was eating. So, I started an initiative to grow food in my neighborhood with a community garden and then it exploded out of control for the next several years until I got to where I am today, an interest turned into a deep passion and and now it is my career.

What did you do before urban farming?

I am an architect with a Master’s degree in Sustainability Leadership. Before I started working full time for Urban Harvest STL, I was working for a global architecture firm as a sustainability consultant for many years, then briefly in the Office of Sustainability at Washington University. The non-profit started as a side hustle for many years, but I’m glad I can focus all of my energy on it now.

What part of the food system do you work on?

We focus on many different parts of the food system, as they are all interconnected. To name a few: food access, local food systems, urban agriculture, education, community engagement, agritourism. Agritourism focuses on the opportunity to get the public onto a farm, which usually takes place in the form of events or tours. We see it as a form of community engagement to get people to a farm and learn about it in different ways than just volunteering with us.

Can you tell us more about Urban Harvest STL?

Urban Harvest STL is a nonprofit with a social mission focused on food equity and education. One of our main programs is our food access program, which includes us growing food and collaborating with community partners to help distribute it to Northside food desert neighborhoods. Our other main component is education, which we carry out through our Leadership in Urban Ag Internship program, field trips and volunteer opportunities. Our internship program provides young people skills to grow their own food in an urban environment, while gaining experience in nonprofit management, event planning, volunteer management – so it is a leadership opportunity in an urban agriculture context.… Read the rest

Over the last 40 years the average citizen’s income, security, education, health and prospects for their children’s future has eroded. It has become increasingly difficult to protect the environment and the rights of the majority of real people to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” in this country. During the same time, corporations have become more monopolistic, powerful, large, and politically influential. Is there a correlation to these diverging paths?

Figure 1: Convention Agenda and Attendance Pins

Between August 3 and 6, 2017 MCE staff members Caitlin Zera and Brad Walker attended a Democracy Convention in Minneapolis, MN along with hundreds of other people from across the country. This was the third such convention since 2011. Thirteen organizations convened the convention that was broken into eight topic conferences covering a wide range of topics: including Community and Worker Power, Democratizing the Constitution, Earth Rights & Global Democracy, Democratizing our Schools, Colleges & Universities, Media Democracy, Peace & Democracy, Racial Justice, and Voting Rights & Open Government. The underlying theme was how to address the increasing negative impact of overwhelming corporate influence on all layers of government. Over 140 presentations with 150 speakers were offered, typically on 75 minute tracks with ten concurrent presentations.

The one significant difficulty with the convention was that too many interesting topics were offered concurrently; meaning we had to chose to attend one presentation from up to ten topics we may have wanted to learn about. Presentations were not recorded so there is no opportunity to watch the ones that were missed.… Read the rest

Actually, we don’t sell our products. Instead, we donate food to different food pantries. We grow berries, sweet potatoes, melons, beans, peas cauliflower broccoli, okra, onions, garlic, and all the herbs. Everything we grow, we grow organically. We use sustainable farming methods such as interplanting with flowers and plants, integrated pest control, long rows, and raised beds depending on the crop.

When did you start farming?

I saw the need for people to have access to fruits and vegetables when I was working in Western St. Charles and saw people mostly getting processed food in cans and boxes.

What is your background? How long have you worked on the farm?

I grew up on a farm! I have been working on Seeds of Love for seven years. It’s been a community effort. We have two properties, one is at the LINC St. Charles Community Center. We asked to use some land that wasn’t being used around baseball and football fields and the garden has been expanding since. The other is at Living Lord Lutheran Church. We have been given all of our funds by churches and community centers.

What do you wish people knew about the food system in St. Louis?

There are too many people still going hungry. The need for food greatly outweighs the amount of donations being made. Target, Walmart, and Schnucks donate to pantries, but they only donate fresh food that is about to expire, not actually fresh food. Other community gardens should look into donating fresh food. Additionally, if you grow food in communities where there is a need for food, they will learn how to grow it. The best way and the only way to get the most fresh, most nutritious food is to grow it yourself. Children today are so removed from the food system. It is incredible how many kids don’t know where their food comes from. However, if you take the time to teach them, children are amazingly receptive and excited about growing food.

What has been your greatest struggle as a small farmer in the food industry?

Getting volunteers is not easy. But then again, nothing in growing and planting is easy. It is hard work but well worth it. I have spent the last three to four years educating people about their food and have been most successful in last two years.… Read the rest